The Moscow City Court has rejected an appeal by opposition politician Dmitry Gudkov to overturn the refusals by two election commissions to register him as a candidate in September 8 municipal elections in the Russian capital.
The court ruled on August 21 that decisions by local and federal election commissions to deny Gudkov's registration as a candidate were legal.
Gudkov's lawyers have insisted that the decisions by election commissions to not register the politician were politically motivated and groundless.
Election officials have refused to register the candidacies of dozens of independent and opposition politicians, including Gudkov, on the grounds that they failed to obtain the required number of signatures. In many cases, the authorities said that signatures presented were invalid or falsified, an allegation that many potential candidates reject.
Only one candidate who was denied registration, Sergei Mitrokhin of the Yabloko party, has been registered following an appeal in court.
Gudkov is currently serving a 30-day jail term for taking part in an unsanctioned rally on July 27.
Several sanctioned and unsanctioned rallies have taken place in Moscow in recent weeks in which protesters have demanded that independent and opposition candidates be allowed to run in the upcoming municipal elections.
Also, on August 21, independent politician Yulia Galyamina, who has also been struggling to get registered as a candidate for the municipal elections in Moscow, was rearrested immediately after she served a 15-day jail term for taking part in a rally on August 3. She previously served a 10-day jail term for taking part in a similar rally on July 27.
